Abstract
This paper contains four lines of inquiries based on Duhem’s thesis about the contrast between the abstract French mind and the concrete British mind. The first line brings out the real contrast between two types of methods and their results: the A(bstract) method or models and the C(oncrete) method or models. The second line gives a critical discussion of the Callender-Cohen deflationism on scientific representation. The third discusses Russell’s structuralism in connection to the theme. And the fourth critically discusses the relationship between models and fiction in connection to the distinction between the A-models and the C-models. A conclusion maps out the author’s view on the nature of the C-models and why they, and only they, can be viewed as fully fictional.
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Liu, C. (2012). A Study of Model and Representation Based on a Duhemian Thesis. In: Magnani, L., Li, P. (eds) Philosophy and Cognitive Science. Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29928-5_6
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